From the Pastor 11-16-2020

 Since I have given up on social media for the time being, I will begin putting my weekly letter to my church members here on my blog. There might be times when the letter is more specific to the needs of our church so I will not always copy them here, but from time to time I will do so. 

From the Pastor:

 Acts 2:22-24
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know – Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”

This past Sunday morning I was privileged to be able to listen to Bro. Gerald Henderson preach to us from 1 Peter 2:1-8 on “Christ the Cornerstone.” It was a good and timely message for me to hear for many reasons, but mainly because it made consider the perfect work of Christ contained in His perfect person that works perfection in me to fit me for eternal glory with the perfect Holy Triune God. That’s an amazing thing to consider, is it not? Christ is the perfect cornerstone that aligns all of God’s chosen people to himself. No one else is even close to being able to do such a thing. Yet that is exactly what Christ does for us who are in him, his fellow brothers and sisters in the Father. This has led me to the verses that I have quoted above from Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost because it fixes our eyes on the significance of the glorious Gospel of God in Christ Jesus, the greatest blessing ever given to fallen man.

Yes, the Gospel is the greatest blessing we have ever received because it is the Good News that changes us from sinner to Saint. It’s the greatest blessing because it gives all other blessings their true value and significance from the very life that we have been gifted from our mother’s womb to the air that we breathe to the food that supplies us. The unnumbered blessings of God reach their greatest experienced worth only when we know and believe in the precious gift of Christ as our Savior and Lord. Only then can we begin to be truly thankful towards our Father in Heaven. Only then can all the other blessings that He so richly bestows upon us be properly appreciated and understood.

This is why we must continuously preach the Gospel to ourselves. Every day we must remind ourselves that Jesus Christ lived, died, rose from the dead, ascended, intercedes, and promises to return on behalf of all those the Father has given him. It was God’s love that compelled and delighted the Son in doing all that he did for us by fulfilling the Father’s amazing plan of redemption. And it is the Son’s continued and constant love for His Father that keeps us safe in His eternal plan and captivated by the Son’s love for us that flows from the Father. Christ’s atoning work was not accomplished in a vacuum, in some other dimension or space. No, it was accomplished here on this earth 2000 years ago in flesh and blood by the actual person of Jesus of Nazareth, the God-Man, sent by the Heavenly Father to redeem his children from all time. This plan had been orchestrated by the Holy Triune God from before the foundations of the world and continues on today through the preaching of this great and glorious news so that all for whom Christ died would come to saving faith. And make no bones about it, all who are in Christ Jesus will without a doubt come to the knowledge of their need for a Savior and call out to the only one who is able to save them to the uttermost, Jesus Christ.

As you consider what to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. I pray the first thing on your list is the salvation that has been granted to you by your Heavenly Father. I pray that as you pray over you family and with your family you would pray that they too would know of this great and precious gift. I pray that all of you would be able to delight in the blessings of God this season because you know of the greatest blessing that he ever gave this earth, the blessing of His Son the Savior of the World.

 

September 11th

 I don't think I was sleeping through an 8 o'clock class when my phone woke me that September morning 19 years ago. It was my mother calling to tell me "America is at war!" She was working at the bank job she has had since just a couple of years before that day, and was calling to see if I had heard or seen any of what was beginning to transpire in New York. I immediately ran down the stairs to the television in my apartment, and even though I was still only in my underwear, I sat captivated by the scenes that were unfolding before my eyes. 

America had indeed been attacked. Two planes had hit the Twin Towers in NYC and a third had just hit the Pentagon in DC. Later a fourth would crash in a field in Pennsylvania, and all in all over 3,000 would die due to the attacks thrust upon on country by terrorists who had long despised the very ideals and principles that America was founded on. 

That is what makes what we are witnessing in our cities and towns today so painful. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 there was talk of systemic racism. There was no narrative about "white privilege." I'm sure by now the studies have been done, but there was no breakdown on who the attack had negatively impacted more; black, brown, white, red, or purple people. All Americans had been hurt. I was hurt, angry, scared, and afraid and I hadn't even known a single person who died in those attacks. I hurt because my country was hurting. War was inevitable. More people would die. Would I be drafted? Should I enlist? What was my duty to my country in this great time of need? Everyone was asking these types of questions, because what they cared about was not what gender, race, or income level this attack hurt the most, what they cared about was that it had affected all of us because all of us were/are Americans in this country. 

This is what has been lost in the 19 years since that infamous day. We've forgotten what unity looks like. We've forgotten what patriotism looks like. We've forgotten what leadership looks like. What putting country above political opportunism looks like. What selfless sacrifice looks like. The very men and women that were most hailed for their heroism on that day are now castigated by society. The ones who take up the honor of serving and protecting are now seen as the enemy. Regardless of one's position on police reform, in the aftermath of 9/11 it was only about support and care for our First Responders, because we saw firsthand the danger that they were willing to face at any time on that day. 

From that day on we said "We will Never Forget." But 19 years later, that's exactly what we've done. We've forgotten that peace and unity have to be fought for every day for it to truly exist. We've forgotten the importance of self-sacrifice when it comes to actual mutual benefit. Now more than ever we are not a people that "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." This has led many to either become even more locked in to their ideology or to become unengaged all together, because "what's the point?" Even Christians have adopted the idea of "us v. them", and with the creation of social media it's become even more evident that we don't seek to unify ourselves with others around a common goal, but we seek to own others with constant argumentation, witty quips, insulting memes, or mocking satirical articles. I wonder what happens when a society can no longer be satirized because even the unimaginable has become reality? Yet I digress... 

Today, I encourage you to lift up others in prayer. Pray for those who oppose you. Pray for those with whom you disagree. Pray for those continuing to suffer from the losses that occurred on September 11, 2001 or the aftermath of the wars and conflicts that came from this attack. Pray for our leaders on both sides of the aisle. Pray for peace, unity, and a common morality that would unite us once again. Pray that we would "Never Forget" and what that really means as we live everyday with knowledge that this day could indeed be my last on this earth. Finally, pray for forgiveness for sins long unconfessed and for healing among relationships broken or destroyed because of hateful words, bitterness, anger, envy, or jealousy. May God bless you and our country, and may He give us peace. 

Secularism Part 2

 Last time, I went hard after the secularism that caused the "right" to drift to a non-traditional candidate four years ago in Donald J. Trump. Since that post the RNC has had their national convention, nominated Trump for a second term, and done their best to convince Americans that he continues to be the right man for the job. Their argument has been bolstered of late because of the further demise of decency and values throughout our nation expressed in the riots, demonstrations, and crimes that are plaguing our major cities in recent days. Again, I am not a Trump defender and I am more than happy to call the president out when he tweets inappropriate comments or violates the principles of conservatism rooted in historical liberalism, but that is not the purpose of this post. 

The purpose of this post is to turn our attention to the Left and its continual lurch toward secular humanism and the removal of the bedrock of Western Culture, the Judeo-Christian Ethic. To get the fullest picture of these things I would encourage any reader to check out RC Sproul's teaching series "A Blue Print for Thinking." For simplicity you can click here and it will take you to the teaching series. From the Enlightenment on thinkers and philosophers have been seeking to understand humanity outside of the normal, or at least the historical ways, that man was pondered before. There was the idea that man was not the center of the universe, but something outside of him. And whatever that something was, it was what drove man "to be" and to live in such a way that he promoted the good of others, even if it meant suffering for himself. This was modeled in Plato's writings concerning Socrates, the Hebrew Bible, and ultimately in the New Testament with the life of Christ. Now, of course the Biblical record has an even greater purpose in its writing, namely the personal revelation of the God who has made all things and for whom all things exist, but for the purpose of this examination we are simply highlighting the ethical and moral teachings of that Sacred Book. 

With Enlightenment thinking aimed more directly at man's pursuit of his own personal happiness, philosophy and other disciplines began to follow suit. The greatest display of man's desire to make himself the center of the universe finally arrived in the mid-19th century with Darwin's book, "On the Origin of Species." Evolutionary biology and humanistic philosophy now had their treatise on how to break away from the problem with a "Creator" and move to a view that all of creation was not actually a creation at all as much as it was an accidental achievement of evolutionary chaos. This only further cemented the view that man existed for his own good, because without a god to keep man accountable to himself or his fellow man he was free to pursue his own pursuits however he saw fit. Now, for clarification I will state that in varying degrees man has always been given over to this desire to throw-off his Creator. This was exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and what man has being doing ever since that day in worshiping idols, false gods, himself, or any other thing like science, sports, politics, money, fame, etc. has only further illustrated man's fallen heart and sinful nature. 

Man's proclivity to such thinking is what allowed for the immediate spread and adoption of Darwin's view as the chief "scientific" and "philosophical" received truth that began to be pushed by the intellectuals of the day. It truly did not take long, historically speaking of course, for Darwin's theory to become the accepted science and for it to even find its way into classrooms and colleges in no time at all. With this mindset also came the Progressive Era, where men and women seeing themselves as the center of everything, began to demand rights not based on Natural Law or what may be best in a pluralistic society, but on the basis of what made them feel "equal." Whether it was the right to vote, taxing income, a right to work, the need for safety nets, or the great number of issues that arose in the early 20th century, no longer were we as a people seeking what Higher Law had established, but we were finding comfort in the Civil Law, man's ideal of equity based on jurisprudence and legislation and not a rooted ethic. Yes, there had been some Natural Laws that had been violated in the past by this government and others, namely the acceptance of race based slavery and the idea that people of color where somehow less human than others. However, this errors were exploited to deny the usefulness of Natural Law, instead of rightly recognizing where people had been erroneous in their interpretation of what God had rightly demanded from his creation. 

Woodrow Wilson was the first president to not only use his progressive ideas to come to political prominence, but he himself was a racist who viewed people of color as inferior to others, which was a logical conclusion based on his view of human beings and their origins. Some may have tried to use biblical links such as the infamous "curse of Ham" to make the same arguments, but this only revealed their ignorance of Scripture, because there is no "curse of Ham" mentioned in the Bible. Canaan is cursed by Noah in the biblical account after the flood, but the larger family of Ham is not included in that cursing. The argument can be made historically that this is what sets God against the people of Canaan, and contributes greatly in their future judgment by the people of Israel in their conquest of Canaan's land after the period of Egypt captivity. All of this is in fulfillment of God's promises made to the Patriarch Abraham and continued through his sons Isaac and Jacob. All this aside to simply say the continuation of racial injustice and inequity has much more of a basis in progressivist secularism than it does in a Biblical Ethic. 

This is the direction I want to continue in as we further examine 20th and 21st century culture and society and how we have arrived at where we are today. I do believe that secular humanism rooted in an evolutionary philosophy of mankind pushed by the progressivist left has been the primary engine that has moved our society and culture away from Natural Law, Western Philosophy, and a common morality. However, I think the same mindset that has allowed this is universal in all man. I think our fallen nature blinds our eyes, deafens our ears, clouds our minds, and hardens our hearts to the truth of God and what He demands of His creation. I do not think that Truth can be found in governments of politicians, but I do think that those in authority have a God-mandated right to do what is good and to protect the people God has placed them over. I firmly believe the Left has diminished the role of the family, men, and the church in the lives of people to the extent that the violence and anarchy that is ongoing today is a direct product of. In my next post I hope to finally getting around to explaining those things, and then ultimately providing good and healthy solutions to how we might be able to solve the problems that plague us, if we are not too late. Thank you for reading. God bless you and come, Lord Jesus! 

Secularism's Failure: Part 1

Secularism is killing the American experiment. When people have no ethical foundation, they have no absolutes to control them or ground them to reality. Then they are left to perceiving everything as some sort of injustice or crime on the basis of it hurts their feelings or their notion of what should be considered "right" and "wrong". Once this occurs, they come after everything and everyone they believe to be in violation of the morals they choose to value at the moment. Right now what is valued is anything not connected with Trump, conservatism, or the narrative that has been created by whomever it is that is controlling the press.
I am not a Trump fan. I did not vote for the man in 2016 and I have NO DESIRE to vote for him this year. I do take more delight than I should in the anger that he creates from those on the left, but I have no desire to support him, his immorality, or his stupidity in leadership. He is indeed feckless and immature in his ability to lead and should never have been entrusted with the office of Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan. Yet, he has become a litmus test in many ways for people struggling to really understand the American experiment. America has never been a nation symbolized by one man, even though many outside her boarders reduce her to this picture. But those of us inside understand that the Executive branch of our government is an every changing office. I am on the seventh president of my lifetime. Carter was still in office at my birth, even if he only had a few months left, and I am now a man near 40 with the hope that an eighth president will be inaugurated in January of 2021 (For the record I do not desire that to be Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee, perhaps Kanye West will overtake them both! You never know in 2020!)
In the eyes of many, Trump represents a regressive decision by Americans after the "hope and optimism" of the Obama years. We had elected our first president of color, and were viewed as progressing to some sort of utopian future by some. Those on the other side of the aisle viewed things slightly differently from a political and governing standpoint, and because of the concern of liberalism that was arising from most Americans feeling marginalized or unrepresented all together by their government, they elected a loud-mouth, neophyte in the realm of politics because they thought they were throwing off the status quo, and electing a true change maker. In the end they were electing what many on both sides knew to be an immoral, untrustworthy, self-promoter who was simply running in hope of building his brand.
Trump was never prepared for the task of being president and everything from Day 1 has displayed that. The best credentials Trump has ever had was that the people that hate him were the people that the right hated. In other words, he at least had the right enemies, and as we know, "The enemy of my enemies is my friend." This idea was what carried him to the White House, as well as the notion that experience in politics, actual intelligence, and personal morality where a standard of the past. "HEY! Clinton was a lousy moral example, but at least he governed as a centrist" seemed to become the motto of the very people that sought to impeach Clinton because of his infidelity. It's a great reminder that ANGER, BITTERNESS, and DIVISIVENESS are never good motivators for supporting a candidate, pastor, and any other person for that matter. It's also revealing how much FEAR became an instigator in the mind and hearts of those that choose to support Trump and continue to till this day.
What they fear is a lost ideal that I don't think America ever really possessed, or at least hasn't possessed since Woodrow Wilson brought in the Progressive Era, and potentially even before then. This is where secularism began to take its hold on the American Experience and where we will pick back up on this topic in my next posts...

Clay Feet and Tumbling Strawmen

One of the greatest motifs of the Bible is the constant refrain that even the "good guys" mess up. From the outset this lesson becomes clear with Adam, our first father, bringing sin into the world by disobeying the ONE command given to him by his Creator. Then just a few chapters later we see the next "father of the world", Noah, get drunk in his tent and have to have two of his sons care for him in his inebriated state. Then there's Abraham, the first of the patriarchs and the "father of faith", who seems to turn coward every time he meets any man of power. And on and on we could go through Moses and Aaron, Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, Samson (seriously, have you read about this guy??? NO WAY he would survive 21st century scrutiny. I bet he would be blasted for being friends with Joe Rogan or perhaps just listening to his podcast!), David (man after God's own heart, you say?), Solomon, Jonah (spoiler alert, he's kinda racist), and even into the New Testament with the Apostles Peter and Paul all of these men have serious flaws and foibles that lead anyone reading with an open mind wondering how these guys could ever be considered "Heroes" of the faith.  However, if you read with eyes and ears opened by the Spirit, you'll be able to understand why God is prone to use men with clay feet (and by "clay feet" I mean "obvious imperfections") to accomplish His glorious purposes because it highlights who the real hero of the Bible truly is.
Throughout the Bible there is only one person who is presented as, and is clearly known, to be perfect, and that is the God-Man Jesus Christ. From his birth to John announcing the beginning of his public ministry to his death and resurrection and the teaching of the Apostles about all of these things, it is made clear that the one true HERO of the Bible is Jesus Christ. Hebrews makes it very clear when the writer says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15, ESV) Jesus is "the spotless lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Jesus is the one who endures every temptation known to man,"lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life", so that he could be the sin bearer for those whom the Father had given him. That means when Christ went to the cross and suffered the Father's wrath he was doing it to redeem the sins of all his brothers and sisters for all time. Christ died for Samson's sins, Jonah's sins, and my sins. He also died for the sins of Southern slave holders, Confederate soldiers, western expansionist that persecuted American Indians, Jim Crow proponents, and any other sins many today deem unforgivable.
I don't understand why God allowed some of the most famous men of faith in the Bible to be polygamist, scandalous, murderous, and racist in their words and actions. But I do know that's exactly why Christ came and died, because all of us are sinners in need of Christ's redeeming work to save us from the wrath of God. All of us have sins that we are unaware of because of cultural acceptance, lack of maturity, or spiritual blindness. It doesn't make those sins less grievous or offensive to a Holy God, but it does display why our sins must be judged by a Holy God because we are so comfortable in our own sin that we don't even realize how sinful we are in thought, word, and deed on a daily basis.
This is why I will never be a fan of tearing down statues, especially by mob rule, of men that by all accounts were men no different than some of the men the Bible praises. And yes, I mean praises, read Hebrews 11, commonly known as the "Hall of Faith" chapter, and whose names do you read? Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, and David. Would I like it better if all of these men were perfectly moral with no obvious flaws or shortcomings? Most definitely! Do I cheer or promote their sins? NOT AT ALL! But do I understand that ultimately they are only men with clay feet not honored for their perfections, but highlighted because despite their imperfections they had faith in the one who would take away their sins and justify them before the Father? YES! Now, I know that not all of the statues being torn down and left to the trash-bin of history are men of faith. As a matter of fact very few of them may have been men of faith, perhaps that could be an explanation for their sins. However, they all serve to remind us that our own American history wasn't established by innocent men, but by those willing to take a stand in their own generations for things they were convicted needed to be defended. Were some of them wrong in their convictions? YES, and shouldn't that be worth remembering? The only thing we can be certain of is the truth that is contained in God's Word, and tearing down the statues of those we deem unworthy is only an exercise in tearing down straw-men arguments of our opponents because we are too insecure about our own beliefs to explain the truth and nuance of those who have gone own before us.
So let's take a lesson from Scripture, instead of tearing down statues and monuments, let's learn. Let's ask the hard questions about life and being. Let's not forget that even good and decent men could be wrong about issues we believe to be so clear now. Let's be humbled because there may come a generation after us that recognizes more clearly the sins that we committed as a people. And let us all be thankful that even those sins we commit in ignorance are put away through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and despite our blindness, God is full of grace and mercy and will not withhold his forgiveness from all who are in Christ and have submitted to Him.

Ten Years Later...

Well... it's been 10 years since I posted a blog on this site. In that time my wife and I have added four more children, moved a few times, settled in Laurel, MS, survived Covid, and are a month away from celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. And of course it would take the absolute craziness of 2020 to finally get me to find my way back to this old place and make some random comments about the seeming insanity that we see all around today.
The family and I have been enjoying the quarantine life since I tested positive for Covid-19 on June 6th. It's been over two weeks since we started our time in quarantine, and we are waiting another week before really getting out to make sure that we've given plenty of time for everyone to have gone through their full two weeks since their first symptoms. By "really getting out" I mean allowing everyone to be out in public and not just sit in a vehicle while getting gas or picking up groceries in the pick up lane. In the mean time I have enjoyed getting some reading done, spending time with the family, and getting hooked home renovations shows.
Also, I've been watching how secularism has revealed all of its downfalls over the last several weeks, and even though it's been fulfilling watching secularism prove its inability to order a society with its ever changing morals and lack of belief in absolute truth, it's sad to see people giving over to chaos and uncertainty because their worldview has proven to be built on sinking sand. For example, I was reading on Twitter about how upset people were about all of the things they WERE NOT taught in public school, or at least not given the full story about. I laughed audibly at the things being mentioned, not because they were inconsequential and didn't deserve to be included in the curriculum of public schools, but because public schools have been leftist institutions basically since their inception. John Dewey, the founding father of public education in America, was a leftist and most (I'm being generous because "all" seems a bit presumptive) public schools have been overseen by liberals ever since. Therefore, those wringing their hands over what wasn't or hasn't been taught have only their friendly leftist-secularist leaders to blame. And of course all of this begs the question, "Why wouldn't our secularist educators want us to know all about their failed policies throughout American history?" But, I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that one...
This isn't to simplify the complicated issues around us and just point the finger at the left and say "it's all your fault!" No, Christians do in fact have some responsibility to own up to and most of that is connected to not being more forthright in their preaching and teaching of the whole counsel of God, and, instead, being intimidated by the ever-changing demands of secular culture. Soft-pedaling the Gospel, avoiding biblical ethics, adding to Scripture the opinions of men, churches seeing one another as competitors instead of co-laborers are just a few examples of ways Christians have failed the culture they have been planted in and haven't helped their fellow man to understand their Creator's expectations for them and why He has every right to make those demands on His creation.
I think I am going to use this post as a jumping off point to start a series of posts diagnosing the problems around us today and offer some real solutions at how to begin remedying those problems. I'm not a fan of pointing out problems without offering some sort of solution, so my aim will be to do that as detailed as possible. You may not agree, but I would hope to at least start a conversation or two that may result in seeing fruitful results for Christians, like me, who are seeking to persevere in this life, while anxiously waiting for the hope of the world to come.

My new part-time job

All information regarding EIM can be found at http://www.eimworldwide.org/

Evangelistic International Ministries (EIM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the spreading of the Gospel to all peoples. Its ministry also includes providing humanitarian assistance to the underdeveloped countries that it ministers in. Some examples include providing feeding programs in Honduras; Ghana, West Africa and the Philippines. They also provide medical care in Honduras, water well construction in Ghana and have provided aid to countries like Pakistan when they have encountered natural disasters. They have met the needs of many different people in many different ways, but their main objective in all of this has always been to open up avenues in these countries were they are then able to share from the scriptures the amazing sacrifice of Christ to all who would hear.

My role with EIM is to be the new program director. My job responsibilities include planning and developing programs in these countries targeted at reaching more people with the kindness and love that all Christians are called to display. Along with this it is my responsibility to raise the necessary funds for EIM to operate these programs as well as their day to day operations. EIM has $2.2 million in assets around the world, and for any small business this can be a heavy burden to maintain, let alone a non-profit organization that is dependent upon donor giving to run all of its ministry needs. That is why I am asking all of you out there to begin praying about how you can begin supporting EIM. If you are on staff or affiliated with a church in any way, I or one of our directors would love to come to your church and share with you what EIM is all about and what we are doing to reach those in need. If you are apart of a foundation or charity that would be interested in supporting the General operating cost of such an organization as EIM, or more specifically interested in the many projects we are invested in, then please let me know how we could garner your support in our world wide efforts.

EIM was started out of the burden my grandfather had for people of all color, creed and culture and has spread into a world wide ministry that has reached countless people with the Gospel. My desire is not to simply raise money to fill the coffers of EIM, but to make it a stronger organization capable of meeting the needs of more and more people.

First, let me end by asking you to please start praying for the work that EIM is doing around the world. Secondly, Would you please pray about supporting the work God has given us? Thirdly, Would you please pass this on to any person, church or group that you think might be interested in assisting us? Finally, maybe God is also laying it on your heart to visit one of the many mission fields that EIM is active in. If so, then go to our website at http://www.eimworldwide.org/ where you can find out all the information you need to know about who we are and where we are working. Thanks for your time and God bless.